Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State and his official and take this opportunity to formally thank him for the help he provided in having stamp duty on intellectual property, which was an issue of interest to me, removed in the budget. I am delighted by the measure as are all those involved in the research and development sector.

The skill and expertise of the expert group on future skills needs in assessing the demand and supply of specific skills should be applauded. The results produced in its fourth report provide a solid basis for investing in greater output of certain skills and give positive indications to students, parents and teachers of specific areas of growing demand and job opportunity. Very few, if any, countries have the capability to carry out such analysis.

As the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Harney, states in the foreword to the report: "Skills are now an instrument for industrial development; the a priori provision of an appropriate skill set is a key mechanism for stimulating a particular economic sector and attracting Foreign Direct Investment." The Government allocated funds in the past to respond to the shortages pinpointed by the expert group and it is critical that this type of investment should continue. Few countries invest in education to support industrial development as systematically as we do and this is an important national advantage.

I will address two areas, namely, the biotechnology and ICT sectors. The former is currently experiencing a shortage of recruits with more jobs available than young people to fill them. Having studied this issue in recent days, I decided to address the young people from a school in Drogheda who were in the Chamber earlier. I spoke to them on the stairs outside and asked them to study science and mathematics because these are the areas in which the jobs of the future will be found.

Ireland is the largest centre in Europe for pharmaceutical companies. The Wyeth company in Clondalkin, for example, is investing €1.5 billion in a new facility and has recruited 1,000 graduates from third level colleges and universities and fourth level graduates. In 2005, the company will produce a drug to cure arthritis for which hundreds of thousands of people around the world are waiting. It will also manufacture a vaccine for meningitis which will future proof our young children by vaccinating them at birth to help prevent them from contracting the disease.

Given that we have a shortage of graduates for the pharmaceutical industry, we need to encourage our young people to study science and mathematics. This is the reason I was inspired to go outside to talk to the young people visiting the Houses today. I had hoped to speak to them directly in the Chamber but they had to leave.

In 2006, we will also experience a shortage of graduates for the ICT sector — the information and communications technology industry. Intel in Lucan is investing €1.3 billion in the sector and recruiting a further 1,000 employees, which will increase its workforce to 4,500. The Government believes that ICT will be a major sector driving the economy in the future, but that by 2006 there will be a shortage of engineers for this type of company. It is for this reason that I encourage young people to study mathematics.

A recent OECD report showed that we have a poor record in mathematics and are placed well down the OECD table on standards in mathematics in Europe. Jobs will be available in the ICT sector in the future. If we are to succeed internationally and against the new entrants to the European Union, we will need to get on our bikes and compete. We cannot afford complacency, which appears to be creeping in a little.

Before Christmas, I attended Dublin Castle to listen to the Taoiseach's speech on priorities for the EU Presidency. I will never forget an off the cuff comment he made when referring to research and development as one of our priorities. Departing from the script, he said we in Europe are only in the ha'penny place in comparison with the United States in this area. One of the main reasons the American economy is so dynamic and vibrant is that the country undertakes so much research and development.

I welcome the inclusion for the first time in the report of an issue of great interest to me, namely, soft skills. In the past, soft skills and emotional intelligence were never regarded as academic. While we encouraged students to be good at maths or science, we forgot about interpersonal skills. From my experience in business, I know that 95% of it relates to human skills. It is no good being brilliant academically if one does not have interpersonal skills and cannot communicate with one's colleagues or those with whom one is doing business. The report calls on the universities to examine the possibility of developing soft skills.

The term "emotional intelligence" has entered the vernacular only recently. From my experience in my company, Lir Chocolates, I have learned that 95% of the success of our small business is due to human relations. The companies with which we deal, including Senator Quinn's company, Superquinn, placed their trust in us and we in them, which allowed us to do business together. One needs human skills to have empathy for one's customers, to be able to interpret what they want and enable them to understand one's needs.

I am delighted to have an opportunity to discuss the report following calls by Senator Quinn that these reports be debated in the House. I learned a great deal from this report and was so driven by it I went outside the Chamber to speak to the young students visiting the Houses. Their teacher was thrilled and when they had to leave the Chamber before I spoke, he asked that I speak to his students on the stairs outside. We must compete and seize opportunities.

Another point about soft skills, which I address to the universities, is that one must be able to learn to manage one's times and priorities. One may be an excellent engineer, but one must also be able to manage time, see the wood for the trees and prioritise and one must have interpersonal skills. I applaud the fact that the need for soft skills has been raised for the first time in the group's reports.